Ag Calendar

North Dakota State University Extension has teamed up with South Dakota State University, SDSU Extension and regional partners to host the North American Manure Expo, which will be Aug. 15-16 at the Swiftel Center in[...]

The Nebraska Corn Board will hold its next meeting Wednesday, August 15 and Thursday, August 16, 2018 at Bayside located at 865 Lakeview West Rd, Brule, Nebraska. The Board will conduct regular board business and[...]

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach has scheduled two workshops, focused on women landowners, to provide opportunities to discuss drainage issues that exist on their farmland. Excessive rains typically create drowned out spots in fields,[...]

Farmers and Ranchers are invited to attend a FREE clinic. The clinics are one-on-one, confidential farm finance and ag law consultations being conducted across the state each month. An experienced ag law attorney and ag[...]

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host multiple farmland leasing meetings during July and August at various times and locations throughout Iowa. The annual meetings are offered to address questions that land owners, tenants[...]

Futures One Crop Progress Report

OMAHA — Good-to-excellent condition ratings for both corn and soybeans declined nationwide last week, according to the USDA National Ag Statistics Service’s weekly Crop Progress report released Monday.

NASS estimated that 72% of the nation’s corn was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, July 15, down 3 percentage points from 75% the previous week.

“Hot and dry weather increased poor-to-very-poor ratings from Missouri to Texas,” said DTN Analyst Todd Hultman. “Michigan is also experiencing dry weather with 20% of their corn crop rated poor or very poor.”

Corn development continued to run well ahead of the average pace with NASS estimating that 63% of the crop was silking as of Sunday, 26 percentage points ahead of 37% for both last year and the five-year average.

Soybean condition also declined last week. The crop was rated 69% good to excellent on Sunday, down 2 percentage points from 71% the previous week. Poor-to-very-poor ratings increased in Missouri, Kansas and Michigan.

“Good-to-excellent ratings for both corn and soybeans are not as good as those seen in 2016, but are still significantly higher than a year ago,” Hultman said.

Like corn, soybean development was also running well ahead of normal, with NASS estimating 65% of the crop blooming as of Sunday, 20 percentage points ahead of the five-year average of 45%. Twenty-six percent of soybeans were estimated to be setting pods, 15 percentage points ahead of the five-year average pace of 11%.

Meanwhile, NASS estimated that 74% of winter wheat was harvested as of Sunday, equal to last year’s pace of 74%, but slightly ahead of the five-year average of 71%.

Spring wheat was 93% headed as of Sunday, ahead of the last year’s 89% and also ahead of the five-year average of 85%. The condition of the crop held steady from the previous week at 80% good to excellent. That’s still the highest good-to-excellent rating for spring wheat for this time of year since 2010, Hultman noted.

Sorghum was 31% headed, equal to last year and near the five-year average of 32%. Sorghum coloring was 19%, near 20% for both last year and the five-year average. Sorghum condition slipped again from 51% good to excellent the previous week to 47% last week.

Barley was 90% headed as of Sunday, ahead of 87% last year and also ahead of the average pace of 88%. Oats were 96% headed, equal to last year and near the average pace of 95%. Sixteen percent of oats were harvested as of Sunday, ahead of 13% last year and also ahead of the five-year average of 14%.

Rice was 32% headed as of Sunday, near 31% last year and slightly ahead of the average of 29%. Cotton was 72% squaring, ahead of the average of 70%. Thirty-one percent of cotton was setting bolls, also ahead of the average pace of 24%. Cotton condition held steady last week while rice’s good-to-excellent rating dropped 3 percentage points.

To view weekly crop progress reports issued by National Ag Statistics Service offices in individual states, visit http://www.nass.usda.gov. Look for the U.S. map in the “Find Data and Reports by” section and choose the state you wish to view in the drop-down menu. Then look for that state’s “Crop Progress & Condition” report.